Agency Theory Flashcards
Autonomous state
Free to act according to conscience
Agentic state
Carrying out orders and behaving on the behalf of someone else ( you don’t feel responsible)
Agentic shift
The change (shift) from autonomus to agentic state
Why does agentic shift happen?
Could be due to evolution - a survival trait as society can not function without obedience
Why do we have these two states?
As a survival trait as society can not function without obedience
Moral strain
When people become aware that what they are doing is morally wrong and become uncomfortable with their behaviour
What decreases moral strain?
Deflecting the responsibility onto someone else reduces moral strain
How does Milgram support agency theory?
65% of participants were willing to obey an authority figure and cause harm. This provides evidence for agency theory because the participants showed signs of moral strain but still acted as agents for the scientist - moved responsibility onto the scientist
How might Milgram be seen as conflicting with agency theory?
According to Agency Theory moral strain is supposed to go away when people enter an Agentic State however Milgram observed distress in the participants who obeyed (like crying and shaking), not the ones who disobeyed, which goes against the theory
What does Agency Theory apply to in the real world?
The Holocaust- concentration camp guards claimed they were only following orders
Why is this theory not as good as impact theory?
Agency Theory doesn’t take situational factors such as the authority figure or how close they are to the target unlike impact theory
Why is this theory better than impact theory?
Agency Theory is specifically designed to relate to obedience whereas Impact Theory was designed for all group behaviour
